The following story comes as a breath of fresh air to me:
THE STORY
“Congress statutorily designated a singular ‘day for the election’ of members of Congress and the appointment of presidential electors,” the 5th Circuit panel said, according to CNN. “Text, precedent, and historical practice confirm this ‘day for the election’ is the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.”
I have always advocated for the rule of law and against those who would subvert it and — in the process — subvert the U.S. Constitution and the Social Compact which it represents. The ruling which led to this story being written is long overdue (pointing to yet another problem in our nation: the subversion of our legal system at its highest levels).
However, this court ruling does not go far enough. Apparently, it only applies to three of the several States:
“The 5th Circuit’s ruling is only binding on the three Southern states covered by the circuit, and for now, the panel is not ordering that the policy be blocked in Mississippi for the current election, instead sending the case down for more proceedings,” CNN reported.
The problem here is that this ruling rests on the language that was used in the original ratification of the U.S. Constitution, which applies to the governance of all the States. This means that the recent ruling should (and I argue does) apply equally to every State in the Union.
Another problem with this story — as I see it, anyway — is that neither CNN nor The Gateway Pundit bothered to explain why the 5th District Court of Appeals ruled in this manner. It does not require a lawyer or Constitutional scholar to figure this out or to explain it. It just requires us to read the original documents surrounding the ratification of the Constitution. Here, allow me to do what both stories failed to do.
THE RULING EXPLAINED
The applicable text is not found in the text of the U.S. Constitution, but in the postscript to the document as it was submitted to Congress and the States for ratification (please see full document in APPENDIX B below). This is a bit lengthy, but we will cite it in full, highlighting the applicable text in red:
In Convention Monday September 17th, 1787. Present The States of
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
Resolved,
That the preceeding Constitution be laid before the United States in Congress assembled, and that it is the Opinion of this Convention, that it should afterwards be submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each State by the People thereof, under the Recommendation of its Legislature, for their Assent and Ratification; and that each Convention assenting to, and ratifying the Same, should give Notice thereof to the United States in Congress assembled. Resolved, That it is the Opinion of this Convention, that as soon as the Conventions of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress assembled should fix a Day on which Electors should be appointed by the States which shall have ratified the same, and a Day on which the Electors should assemble to vote for the President, and the Time and Place for commencing Proceedings under this Constitution.That after such Publication the Electors should be appointed, and the Senators and Representatives elected: That the Electors should meet on the Day fixed for the Election of the President, and should transmit their Votes certified, signed, sealed and directed, as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled, that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the Time and Place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a President of the Senate, for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the Votes for President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress, together with the President, should, without Delay, proceed to execute this Constitution.
By the unanimous Order of the Convention
Go. Washington-Presidt:
- JACKSON Secretary.
OK, on the surface, this does not appear to mandate a 1-day election for the President — but it does! Allow me to explain [Note: this will seem complicated, but it isn’t, not really]:
First, Remember, the Constitution originally gave the election of the President to the States, not the People. This authority was further modified by the 12th Amendment (see APPENDIX C). However, in all of the changes that have been made to the way we elect the President, the one thing that was never changed is the fact that the election of the President is supposed to happen on a single day, and that this is to be the same day for every State in the Union.
This is the point!
The U.S. Constitution — with all its amendments — still mandates that the electors vote for the President on the same day. But wait! There’s more! They are to do so in person! Yes, boys and girls, that’s right: the electors from the electoral congress are who elect the President, and to this day, we are not doing it as the Constitution mandates (but this is a subject for another post).
CONCLUSION
No matter how e slice this one up, the Constitution mandates that every State of the Union vote for the President on the same, single day. It always has. And, unless and until we amend this, it always will.
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APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A
THE ORIGINAL STORY:
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
Cited from:
The Constitution: Amendments 11-27
AMENDMENT XII
Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
Note: A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 12th amendment. The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. –]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. *Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.